old school grappling

really good piece taken from the grapplearts.com email. some awesome stuff in there (look out for the cartwheel guard pass at 7:52 in the 2nd video link)

Hi there,

I'm a big fan of old Judo, Jiu-Jitsu and Catch Wrestling books. I have lots and lots of martial arts books, but some of the real jewels of my library are the Judo and wrestling books published in the 1920's to the 1960's. Not all are original - some are reprinted editions - but all offer very interesting historical perspectives on modern grappling.

There is just something special about seeing grapplers from long ago demonstrating techniques that are still used today on mats all over the world.

Fortunately the era of the internet means that we now have unprecedented access to the information of yesteryear.

For example, I just watched a super-cool video of what might be the earliest example of Japanese martial arts ever caught on film. Even though it's more than 100 years old, the very same throws are still used today in both Judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. (Well, the throws that haven't been banned, anyhow).

Once we move ahead from the early 1900's into the 1920's, 30's and 40's, it becomes a lot easier to find footage of the various forms of grappling.

For example, here's Tsunetane Oda (http://judoinfo.com/oda.htm) showing a lot of moves that are still 100% relevant today. Unlike many of his contemporaries (and most modern Judoka) for whom Judo was mostly a standup sport, Oda apparently believed that Judo consisted of 50% standing work and 50% groundwork

(Just keep in mind that the file is large - 250 MB - so it could take a while to download.)

If you study these books and videos you come to realize that most of the time when someone discovers something new in grappling it isn't really new, only new-to-them!

People have been rolling around on the ground for millenia, and there's only so many ways to flip someone over or to twist a limb to make your opponent say 'Uncle!'

Now it's your turn? Do you have a favorite old time video or book that can be watched, viewed or downloaded for free on the internet? If so, give me a shout by replying to this email and I'll put it on the list!

Take care
Stephan Kesting

man, when you're the nail, hang in there....until the day you become the hammer